Living in the Shadows

CHAPTER 4 LEAVING THE BASE & ANOTHER BATTLE

(Jenna)

There wasn't enough room on the bike trail for Officer Jenny's motorcycle and sidecar, so she parked it by the Bike Renters Plaza, and we continued on foot. Zorua was passing the time by transforming back and forth between Officer Jenny and me while I was mentally working out a plan to sneak most of my stuff out of my secret base and into the mansion's basement without Officer Jenny seeing me shadow-jump.

(It's one thing to show my friends my shadow-jumping, they accept me no matter what I can do. But if Officer Jenny or if any human sees me do it, they'll scream, panic, and demand all sorts of answers I can't give.)

When I first discovered my ability to shadow-jump, I knew right then and there that I could never tell or show anyone, especially my grandfather. If he ever found out about it, I would never see the outside world again.

(Plus, I think he would have figured out that my black marble gave me that ability. He knows I wear a bracelet, but he thinks it's just a regular silver one. With the white clothes he has me wear, he'd be able to see the black marble through the material. To avoid that, I turn my bracelet inside out, the black marble against my skin while the silver side faces out. Sometimes I move it to my upper arm, turning it into an armband, to keep him from finding it. If he ever found that black marble, he'd get rid of it in a heartbeat.

FYI: I never had any intention of showing anybody my shadow-jumping. Grandma was an accident.)

We made it to the back entrance of my base, where two Beedrill were still guarding it. Officer Jenny was about to call out her Pokémon when I stopped her. "Wait. I know them," I told her. "They volunteered to watch the entrance so snoopers wouldn't get in."

"Is that so?" she replied as she returned her Pokéball to her belt. "Well, I wouldn't want to make them think I'm snooping."

"Could you... maybe... wait in the meadow for me, please?" I asked in a hesitant voice.

She thought about it for a moment. "Is that the only entrance to your base?"

"No."

"Then alright, but you better not disappear on me!" She handed me a backpack. "Don't take too long. Just grab some clothes and get out."

"Yes, ma'am. Zorua?" Zorua had just changed back into herself when I addressed her. "Would you please escort Officer Jenny to the meadow, tell my friends what happened, and that we're leaving the base today."

While I was talking, I was also telling her, in sign language, to keep Officer Jenny distracted so I could shadow-jump out of the base and into the meadow without her seeing anything. (My back was to Officer Jenny so she couldn't see what I was doing.)

Zorua nodded her head, jumped off of the path, and ran to the treeline. She turned her head to Officer Jenny expecting her to follow; which she did. After they were out of sight, I walked up to the Beedrill and told them what was going on.

"Hey, guys," I called when I got to the waterline. They turned their heads and flew to where I was.

"Hello, Lady Jenna," one of them said.

"All is clear. No intruders," the other one added. (FYI: They're both males.)

I blinked my eyes in surprise when I heard them. "I just understood you."

That caused them to fly back in surprise before they flew in closer to me. "You can understand us now?!" They both exclaimed.

I nodded. "Uh-huh."

"This is something we have to tell Queen Vespiquen," the first one said.

"But what about our duty to guard the opening?" the second one asked.